Fairytale in Bendigo as Charlene enters with grace

John Elder

IT IS not every day a princess comes to Bendigo. While it was supposed to be secret, 700 people - including children bearing flags and flowers - flocked to the Bendigo Regional Gallery last night to see Her Serene Highness, Princess Charlene of Monaco, on her first Australian visit.

Dressed in floor-length pink Johanna Johnson and sparkling with jewels, Princess Charlene opened an exhibition dedicated to the life and fashion of Grace Kelly, the late mother of her husband, Prince Albert. Princess Charlene spoke softly and only for a few minutes, her nerves obvious, but the verdict from many there was that she was ''sweet''.

It was a much more relaxed princess, a former Olympic swimmer for her native South Africa, who caught up with old friends at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre on Friday. The last time Charlene visited the centre was in 2002 - as Charlene Wittstock - when she won a gold medal for the 100 metres backstroke in the World Cup for South Africa. On Friday, The Sun-Herald's sister newspaper in Melbourne, The Sunday Age met Princess Charlene, on the understanding no ''rude'' questions would be asked.

The rudest topic of all was Charlene's reported cold feet at marrying Prince Albert raised by stage-manager, Lotfi Maktouf, explaining why women's magazines had not been invited to cover Charlene's visit.